Press Releases

MONTREAL, FEBRUARY 6, 2018 - Construction on the state-of-the-art facility for the Mackay Centre and Philip E. Layton Schools in NDG continues to progress smoothly and on schedule.

The facility is being built on land located on Terrebonne Street, between Benny and Madison Avenues, in NDG. The English Montreal School Board (EMSB) has owned the green space for decades. The field was under municipal custodianship and was being used as an informal playing field by the public and the neighbouring Commission scolaire de Montréal (CSDM) elementary school École Marc-Favreau.

To date, construction is approximately 45 percent complete, with the heaviest work near completion. The building’s underground infrastructure and structure are up. The current work of closing up exterior walls and installing precast concrete panels is complete. The curtain walls and windows are in process of being installed. More than 50 percent of frame work is done and approximately 30 percent of glazing is completed. The insulation of the exterior walls began this week.

As for the interior of the building, concrete slabs are all completed except in the main hall room where there will be a heated floor. Interior brick walls are going up following the installation of sprinkler piping, plumbing, and electrical and ventilation ducts. Seventy-five percent of the main first floor west wing is up, as is 20 percent of the east wing. Work on the second floor west wing has begun, and is 10 percent complete. The electrical and plumbing work on the second floor east wing is underway.

The outside infrastructure drainage system is partially completed, with an anticipated finish date in the spring. Landscaping will begin in the early spring. The construction remains on schedule for a delivery date for the middle of August. A highly anticipated visit with the staff will be schedule in late March or early April.

The new school will house approximately 200 students with developmental, intellectual, auditory or visual impairments and will be the only one of its kind to offer specialized educational and rehabilitative services for the Anglophone community. Its supra-regional mandate means that students from all nine Quebec English School Boards will be attending this school. Some students must by travel as much as three hours per day by school bus.

The entire facility has been carefully designed to cater to the diverse needs of its student population. On the ground floor, numerous specialized classrooms, washrooms, an outdoor courtyard, as well as an indoor therapeutic swimming pool are just some of the standard facilities planned. The second floor will accommodate the school administration as well as private offices and equipment for medical professionals.

Daniel Hogue, Director of Material Resources at the EMSB, is managing the building project until its completion.